The Learning Curve Podcast

Wednesdays at 12 pm

Join Pioneer every Wednesday for insight and perspective on education, learning trends, school choice, and public policy. Our hosts and guests offer a mix of provocative commentary as they interview school leaders, innovators, bestselling authors, policymakers, and more.

Listeners can find The Learning Curve on iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Stitcher, Spotify, and the Choice Media mobile app. Also find it online at Ricochet and Pioneer Institute. Follow The Learning Curve on:

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UK Uni. of St Andrews’ Sir Hew Strachan on the First World War

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Sir Hew Strachan, Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and recipient of the 2016 Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. Prof. Sir Hew, author of numerous award-winning books, including The First World War, the basis of the definitive 10-part Channel 4/BBC documentary, discusses how World War I shaped the 20th century and beyond.
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U-Ark’s Randall Woods on John Quincy Adams: Statesman of the Early Republic

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Randall Woods, John A. Cooper Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, and author of John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People. Prof. Woods shares the life and career of American statesman John Quincy Adams, the “first son of the Republic,” whose upbringing in the household of John and Abigail Adams shaped his lifelong devotion to public service.
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FEE’s Kerry McDonald on Joyful Learning, Microschools, & Homeschooling

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and the Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Kerry McDonald, Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), host of the LiberatED podcast, and author of Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling (2025). As a leading advocate for alternative schooling, McDonald shares how her educational background shaped her philosophy of learner-driven schooling and traces the history of homeschooling in America, highlighting the hurdles families have overcome in recent years.
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Dr. Gil Troy on Theodor Herzl – Father of Zionism & Combating Antisemitism

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Eos Foundation’s Andrea Silbert interview Dr. Gil Troy, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Distinguished Scholar in North American History at McGill University, and editor of Theodor Herzl: The Collected Zionist Writings and Addresses of Israel's Founder. He offers an overview of Herzl’s upbringing in 19th-century Vienna, the antisemitic events that shaped his worldview, and how the infamous Dreyfus Affair spurred his determination to establish a Jewish State.
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UK’s Dr. Kathryn Hughes on George Eliot, Middlemarch, & Victorian Novels

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Great Hearts Academies’ Dr. Helen Baxendale interview Dr. Kathryn Hughes, academic historian and award-winning author of George Eliot: The Last Victorian. Dr. Hughes discusses the significance of 19th-century novelist Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, in shaping British literature and capturing the societal tensions of the Victorian era.
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Florida’s John Kirtley on School Choice

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and American Federation for Children Senior Fellow Shaka Mitchell interview John Kirtley, Managing Partner and co-founder of Keswick Partners, and founder and Chairman of Step Up for Students, a nonprofit that manages Florida’s state-funded K-12 scholarship programs serving over half a million students. Kirtley shares his journey from the private sector into education reform in the late 1990s, and why business leaders must actively engage in shaping K-12 policy.
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NYT Bestseller Jane Leavy on Reforming Major League Baseball

In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Pioneer Senior Fellow Charlie Chieppo interview award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Jane Leavy. Ms. Leavy discusses her lifelong love of baseball, and her forthcoming book, Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, which comes out in September.
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